MLB 2017: The House That Bones Built

[Manhole Eunuchsbane]

46 minutes ago, Myshkin said:

Bellinger hits for the cycle!

Yay! That's just fucking great.

[kairparavel]

The Nationals bullpen is so epically bad. 10-0 they were up going into the 8th. It's now 10-7 bottom of the 9th, nobody out. You have to feel for Scherzer.

Come on Reds.

[DMC]

I'll take a split at Fenway, although can't deny I'm disappointed Price shut them out when usually the Yanks kick the shit out of him.  The big silver lining of all these injuries lately has been in the minors:

Jorge Mateo was languishing in his second season at High A Tampa.  Since being called up to Double A Trenton, he's slashed .377/.469/.667 in 17 games with 8 stolen bases.

Billy McKinney was spending his his third season in Double A.  Since being called up to Triple A Scranton, he's slashed .353/.389/.686 in 13 games with 4 home runs (he's never hit more than 11 in an entire season).

Hooray for undeserved promotions revitalizing underperforming prospects!  Both Mateo and McKinney have been top 100 prospects in the past, but aren't anymore.  SSS, I know, but hooray for revitalizing trade value as well!

There's also Miguel Andujar, btw, who hasn't missed a beat since being promoted to Scranton.  OPS'ing .826 in 20 games (compared to .836 in 67 games this season at Trenton).  While he still doesn't get love on the top prospect lists, pretty undeniable he's one of the top 5 3rd base prospects in baseball at this point.

[Arch-MaesterPhilip]

3 hours ago, dmc515 said:

I'll take a split at Fenway, although can't deny I'm disappointed Price shut them out when usually the Yanks kick the shit out of him.  The big silver lining of all these injuries lately has been in the minors:

Jorge Mateo was languishing in his second season at High A Tampa.  Since being called up to Double A Trenton, he's slashed .377/.469/.667 in 17 games with 8 stolen bases.

Billy McKinney was spending his his third season in Double A.  Since being called up to Triple A Scranton, he's slashed .353/.389/.686 in 13 games with 4 home runs (he's never hit more than 11 in an entire season).

Hooray for undeserved promotions revitalizing underperforming prospects!  Both Mateo and McKinney have been top 100 prospects in the past, but aren't anymore.  SSS, I know, but hooray for revitalizing trade value as well!

There's also Miguel Andujar, btw, who hasn't missed a beat since being promoted to Scranton.  OPS'ing .826 in 20 games (compared to .836 in 67 games this season at Trenton).  While he still doesn't get love on the top prospect lists, pretty undeniable he's one of the top 5 3rd base prospects in baseball at this point.

I'm mostly satisfied with the way the weekend went, it should have been three of four but I'll take a split. Besides Chapman on Friday night it seems the relief pitching has turned the corner, the starting pitching looked good.

I'm glad Mateo has turned things around, hopefully the Yankees can turn him into something good if they can't find a place for him with the big club. But with Gleyber Torres being out they might want to hold on to him.

[DMC]

15 hours ago, Arch-MaesterPhilip said:

I'm glad Mateo has turned things around, hopefully the Yankees can turn him into something good if they can't find a place for him with the big club. But with Gleyber Torres being out they might want to hold on to him.

Well, I don't think Torres has much to do with it - even if Mateo rakes the rest of the season he's very unlikely to have the same experience at the same level (Triple A) that Torres left off at.  Mateo's not really an option for this year (other than perhaps as a pinch-runner de jure in September since he's already on the 40 man), and Torres should be completely ready by Spring Training.

Anyway, Yanks lose again.  Positives to take away:  Both Frazier and the Cooper kid they just got for first base had two doubles.  Negatives:  Mitchell does not look like a starting pitching option; the rest of the offense continues to be anemic.

[Lightning Lord]

Yes.  Yanks lose again

But

Twins are starting the immortal Bartolo Colon tomorrow.  So... I like your odds?

How was he the solution to the rotation woes... oh eff.

[Arch-MaesterPhilip]

8 hours ago, dmc515 said:

Well, I don't think Torres has much to do with it - even if Mateo rakes the rest of the season he's very unlikely to have the same experience at the same level (Triple A) that Torres left off at.  Mateo's not really an option for this year (other than perhaps as a pinch-runner de jure in September since he's already on the 40 man), and Torres should be completely ready by Spring Training.

Anyway, Yanks lose again.  Positives to take away:  Both Frazier and the Cooper kid they just got for first base had two doubles.  Negatives:  Mitchell does not look like a starting pitching option; the rest of the offense continues to be anemic.

Him turning his play around has nothing to do with Torres but with him being injured the Yankees might be more reluctant to trade Jorge Mateo.

I don't think Mitchell did too bad. He only gave up one earned run, he's not a permanent solution but he did ok.

[DMC]

7 hours ago, Arch-MaesterPhilip said:

Him turning his play around has nothing to do with Torres but with him being injured the Yankees might be more reluctant to trade Jorge Mateo.

I just don't think so.  Since it's to his non-throwing arm, Torres is expected to make a full recovery by all accounts - the injury hasn't even hurt his prospect stock among all the public evaluators.  Plus, the Yankees have a ton of middle-infield prospects throughout almost all levels.  I think the only factor in dealing Mateo is whether the right deal comes along.

7 hours ago, Arch-MaesterPhilip said:

I don't think Mitchell did too bad. He only gave up one earned run, he's not a permanent solution but he did ok.

Yeah, you're right.  Think I overreacted out of frustration.  Still, he allowed a lot of baserunners and always seemed to be in trouble/on the brink of collapse.  We'll see how Cessa does tonight, and it will be interesting who gets the 5th starter job going forward.

[Ramsay B.]

19 hours ago, Lightning Lord said:

Twins are starting the immortal Bartolo Colon tomorrow.  So... I like your odds?

I figured Judge would be getting a day off soon with his recent struggles but to do it when Colon, and his 8.14 era, is on the mound would be just cruel.

ETA: Batters have a .338 avg against the old man this year. Yikes.

[Lightning Lord]

12 minutes ago, Ramsay B. said:

I figured Judge would be getting a day off soon with his recent struggles but to do it when Colon, and his 8.14 era, is on the mound would be just cruel.

ETA: Batters have a .338 avg against the old man this year. Yikes.

It's sound strategy.  If you're worried about the young'un's mind get twisted about, best sit him against the likes of Colon.  Can you imagine the mind-love-making that would be striking out, going no-fer against 44 year old Colon's 8.14 ERA and .338 BAA?

Don't risk it: sit the young chap and bring him back against an actually decent presence on the mound.

[Myshkin]

Trade market is heating up early this season. First Q to Cubs, now JD Martinez to the Diamondbacks, and Todd Frazier is out of the Sox lineup tonight. 

[Manhole Eunuchsbane]

1 hour ago, Myshkin said:

Trade market is heating up early this season. First Q to Cubs, now JD Martinez to the Diamondbacks, and Todd Frazier is out of the Sox lineup tonight. 

Wow, the D-bags are buying, huh? Seems a bit optimistic what with being 10 back and all.

[DMC]

Rumors are swirling Robertson, Frazier, and Kahnle are going to the Yankees for a lower-level package headlined by Blake Rutherford.  Giving up Rutherford for those three is incredibly stupid.

[Myshkin]

10 minutes ago, Manhole Eunuchsbane said:

Wow, the D-bags are buying, huh? Seems a bit optimistic what with being 10 back and all.

Yeah, but on the other hand they apparently got him cheap. 

[Ramsay B.]

32 minutes ago, dmc515 said:

Rumors are swirling Robertson, Frazier, and Kahnle are going to the Yankees for a lower-level package headlined by Blake Rutherford.  Giving up Rutherford for those three is incredibly stupid.

I was afraid they would do another something like this. I know they have some top OF prospects but I was hoping for more of a return too. I just wish they rode out the year with what they have and kept all the young talent, but they're obviously thinking differently.

Clippard might be gone too. Good riddance.

[Manhole Eunuchsbane]

37 minutes ago, dmc515 said:

Rumors are swirling Robertson, Frazier, and Kahnle are going to the Yankees for a lower-level package headlined by Blake Rutherford.  Giving up Rutherford for those three is incredibly stupid.

Yeah, Yanks are pushing all in it looks like. It's a bold strategy Cotton, let's see if it pays off.

[DMC]

1 hour ago, Ramsay B. said:

I was afraid they would do another something like this. I know they have some top OF prospects but I was hoping for more of a return too. I just wish they rode out the year with what they have and kept all the young talent, but they're obviously thinking differently.

Clippard might be gone too. Good riddance.

What bothers me the most about it is they obviously could have gotten Robertson and Frazier without giving up a top 50 prospect like Rutherford.  You trade top 50 prospects for good starters or game-changing relievers.  Is Tommy Kahnle a game-changing reliever?  He does have great numbers this year (including an eye-popping strikeout rate), and is under control until 2021, so obviously someone in the Yankee front office thinks so.  I'm highly skeptical, but of course I hope he proves me wrong.

Clippard was included to help even out the salary and give them room on the 40 man.

ETA:  Also, (Todd) Frazier kinda sucks, and has for two years now (at least in terms of making contact).  Would rather they just got a better hitting upgrade at first.

[Arch-MaesterPhilip]

9 hours ago, dmc515 said:

What bothers me the most about it is they obviously could have gotten Robertson and Frazier without giving up a top 50 prospect like Rutherford.  You trade top 50 prospects for good starters or game-changing relievers.  Is Tommy Kahnle a game-changing reliever?  He does have great numbers this year (including an eye-popping strikeout rate), and is under control until 2021, so obviously someone in the Yankee front office thinks so.  I'm highly skeptical, but of course I hope he proves me wrong.

Clippard was included to help even out the salary and give them room on the 40 man.

ETA:  Also, (Todd) Frazier kinda sucks, and has for two years now (at least in terms of making contact).  Would rather they just got a better hitting upgrade at first.

I think they took Frazier just to keep him from Boston. The piece that bothers me the most is Ian Clarkin, with Judge getting it together and Red Thunder taking his place in the outfield there is no room for Rutherford, especially if they splash and go for Harper so at least they were able to turn him into something. And Soto wasn't a top 50 anyway. The only other option I've heard about at first was Lucas Duda and I can understand preferring not to do business with the Mets.

[DMC]

@Arch-MaesterPhilip:  I'm not too worried about giving up Clarkin.  After missing all of 2015 with an elbow issue, he seems to always miss chunks of time, which is not a good habit for a pitcher.  Plus his peripherals haven't looked too good since the elbow issue.  If he makes it he will have beaten the odds, good for him.  

Not sure who you mean by Soto?  Do you mean Tito Polo?  Yeah, he's barely a prospect - one of the two guys we got for Nova.  He should be a great fourth outfielder for someone one day, and he's also been one of the guys tearing it up since being promoted (to Double A) a few weeks ago.  Anyway, both Clarkin and Polo were subject to be part of the upcoming 40-man roster crunch:  There likely wasn't room on there for either, and each had a high possibility of being picked.  Good to make use of them while you still can.

What I meant by Top 50 prospect is that Rutherford is one in all of baseball.  I have no qualms about the idea of trading him due to their outfield depth throughout the organization (actually, there's an outfielder that I find more exciting than Rutherford in Estevan Florial, his teammate in low A Charleston).  However, again, my point is you trade a Top 50 prospect for either a good starter (or a great starter if he's a rental) or a game-changing reliever.  Tommy Kahnle is having a career year, but he needs to sustain this type of production for at least another year or two to justify giving up such an asset.

[Arch-MaesterPhilip]

3 minutes ago, dmc515 said:

@Arch-MaesterPhilip:  I'm not too worried about giving up Clarkin.  After missing all of 2015 with an elbow issue, he seems to always miss chunks of time, which is not a good habit for a pitcher.  Plus his peripherals haven't looked too good since the elbow issue.  If he makes it he will have beaten the odds, good for him.  

Not sure who you mean by Soto?  Do you mean Tito Polo?  Yeah, he's barely a prospect - one of the two guys we got for Nova.  He should be a great fourth outfielder for someone one day, and he's also been one of the guys tearing it up since being promoted (to Double A) a few weeks ago.  Anyway, both Clarkin and Polo were subject to be part of the upcoming 40-man roster crunch:  There likely wasn't room on there for either, and each had a high possibility of being picked.  Good to make use of them while you still can.

What I meant by Top 50 prospect is that Rutherford is one in all of baseball.  I have no qualms about the idea of trading him due to their outfield depth throughout the organization (actually, there's an outfielder that I find more exciting than Rutherford in Estevan Florial, his teammate in low A Charleston).  However, again, my point is you trade a Top 50 prospect for either a good starter (or a great starter if he's a rental) or a game-changing reliever.  Tommy Kahnle is having a career year, but he needs to sustain this type of production for at least another year or two to justify giving up such an asset.

Polo yes.

I'm not sure what good starters/great starters are even available. Most of them are already with contenders and they aren't likely to part with them what does that leave? Number four starters with a bloated ERA? I'd prefer to see them see what Chance Adams has got rather than trade a chip. Robertson and Kahnle solve a big problem with the bullpen, I'm not sure I'd call either one game changing but it's a price I'm willing to pay to see them have one less worry.